Robot transport device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10636680-B2
Application number	US-201615774882-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 28, 2016
Priority date	Nov 10, 2015
Publication date	Apr 28, 2020
Grant date	Apr 28, 2020

Abstract

Gas is circulated in an entire transportation space. A robot transport device includes a transportation space in which a transport robot is provided and circulation passages by which gas in the transportation space is circulated. Around the transportation space, surrounding spaces are provided. To these surrounding spaces, an object is transported by the transport robot. The transportation space communicates with each of the surrounding spaces via each of openings. The circulation passages are provided to sandwich the transportation space to avoid a working area of the transport robot, including the openings. The circulation passages are provided in pillar portions forming the transportation space.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A robot transport device comprising:
a transportation space in which a transport robot is provided, a plurality of surrounding spaces to each of which an object is transported by the transport robot being provided around the transportation space, and the transportation space communicating with the surrounding spaces via a plurality of openings, respectively; and
a plurality of circulation passages by which gas in the transportation space is circulated, the circulation passages being provided to sandwich the transportation space in an arrangement direction along which the openings are lined up to avoid a working area of the transport robot including the openings,
the circulation passages being provided in pillar portions, the pillar portions forming the transportation space and extending along an orthogonal direction orthogonal to the arrangement direction.

2. The robot transport device according to claim 1 , wherein, the pillar portions are connected to a wall portion which forms the transportation space and is provided with the openings.

3. The robot transport device according to claim 1 , wherein, three or more of the openings are lined up along the arrangement direction, and
one of the circulation passages is provided between every pair of openings neighboring each other in the arrangement direction, among the three or more of the openings.

4. The robot transport device according to claim 1 , wherein, the transport robot is movable in the arrangement direction and
a filter for removing dust in the gas is provided in a region where the gas circulated in the transportation space and the circulation passages passes.

5. The robot transport device according to claim 4 , wherein,
the circulation passages extend to be parallel to one another, and each of the circulation passages communicates with the transportation space via an intake port on one end side and an exhaust port on the other end side and allows the gas in the transportation space sucked through the intake port to return to the transportation space from the exhaust port,
a shared space is provided to allow the exhaust port of each of the circulation passages to communicate with the transportation space, and
the gas exhausted from the exhaust port of each of the circulation passages flows from the other end side toward the one end side in the orthogonal direction so as to return to the transportation space via the shared space.

6. The robot transport device according to claim 5 , wherein, the shared space spreads over the entirety of a plane orthogonal to the orthogonal direction, relative to the transportation space.

Assignees

• Sinfonia Technology Co Ltd

Inventors

• Shigeta Takashi
• Kawai Toshihiro
• Takeuchi Haruki
• Suda Yoshimasa
• Gomi Hisashi
• Ozaki Shigenori

Classifications

• H10P72/7602

  the wafers being placed on a robot blade or gripped by a gripper for conveyance · CPC title

• H10P72/3402

  Mechanical parts of transfer devices · CPC title

• H10P72/30

  for conveying, e.g. between different workstations · CPC title

• H10P72/0402 Primary

  Apparatus for fluid treatment (H10P72/0441, H10P72/0448 take precedence) · CPC title

• B65G49/07

  for semiconductor wafers {Not used, see H10P72/00}(specially adapted for conveying of semiconductor wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components H10P72/00) · CPC title